The Title X Factor: Why the Health of America’s Women Depends on More Funding for Family Planning

By Andrea Flynn | 10.28.13

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) represents an unprecedented expansion of the nation’s health care system and an historic investment in the health of American women and girls. The ACA has already improved the lives of millions and will make health care accessible for millions more as rollout continues this year and next.

Fulfilling the promise of the ACA depends on the continued support and success of existing programs—like Title X, the federal family planning program—that serve as pillars of the nation’s still fragile primary health care infrastructure. Title X provides critical medical care and “wrap around” services for family planning clinics nationwide, enabling them to pay for and maintain facilities, train and hire staff, purchase equipment and supplies, and offer a host of services for specific populations.

In this white paper, Roosevelt Institute Fellow Andrea Flynn argues that family planning is central to women’s health and social and economic security. Given the tenuous state of the U.S. economy, the vulnerability of women’s health programs in the face of unrelenting political attacks, and the fragility of the social safety net more broadly, public funding for family planning is more critical than ever. Critics may argue that because the ACA meets the needs of many women, Title X is no longer necessary. In fact, the opposite is true. Continued—indeed, increased—funding of Title X will maximize the impact and reach of the ACA and ensure continued care for those who will remain uninsured despite this landmark legislation.

Andrea Flynn is a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, where she researches and writes about issues that impact women and families. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, Cosmopolitan, Salon, The Hill, and Women’s eNews. You can follow Andrea on Twitter @dreaflynn.